1. This is not intended to
be a political website, but rather a historical resource.

We
all have our own political views in the present; the goal of
the historian is to understand the political ideology and actions
of others in the past. Whether one accepts the economic doctrine
of the labor theory of value, the existence of distinct classes
and the primacy of class struggle as the vehicle of social change,
and the analytical framework of historical materialism as valid
guides to action in the world today -- or whether one views these
principles of Marxism to be quaint relics of a secular religion
from a bygone century -- is of little import to us here...

The
questions which should concern us all, regardless of our contemporary
political views or organizational affiliations are WHAT HAPPENED?
and WHY?

Priests and politicians
absolve or condemn; historians attempt to understand and
explain. This implies that one must
immerse oneself in the documents of a given period to really
absorb the set of ideas (economic, political, social) which guided
or constrained action. One must absorb great piles of primary
source material before any sort of true understanding can be
reached.

Once the big picture is grasped, a comprehsion of the mentality of the
participants achieved, and the fine detail begins to become clear,
then the task of the historian changes. Rather than reading,
the order of the day becomes writing: the vast quantities of
source material must be distilled, translated into coherent prose
for a largely uninitiated audience.

2. This site makes no pretense of being comprehensive.

I
tell people that "these are my reading notes for a future book project
in very, very, very long form." My periodization is 1915-1924 -- in
other words, from Zimmerwald and the Preparedness campaign through the
Communist Party's Farmer-Labor Party fiasco and Communist
reorganization on the basis of shop-level units rather than language
federations. If that sounds like Draper
Volume 1, you've got the idea.

Earlier
documents are generally
concentrated on the formation of main organizations and the biographies
of key players in the Left Wing Socialist and Communist
movement of that period. Later documents are a bit of an afterthought,
often dealing with the broad theme of self-destruction through
factional war.

The "sweet spot" of this site is concentrated in the years 1915-1924. I've marked these dates with bullets on the pulldown menu.

3. I enjoy hearing from relatives of participants and helping students and scholars with their research.

I
learn a lot from relatives and those with a very focused interest and
knowledge and try to return the favor by helping them as I'm best able.
Please do write if you're researching an individual or issue and find
this material helpful. I've got a top-notch personal library and can
help steer you where you need to go. So if you
have a question relating to this topic and time frame, please do drop
me a line:-- ShoeHutch@gmail.com

However,
rest assured that if you ask me a question about your kooky great uncle
that was a Red, I'm gonna ask you five questions back... And if you're
researching a dissertation -- I want a copy of the pdf when you're
done... It's only fair! (Hell, if you've used this site and have
written a paper, send me a pdf anyway. I'll read it.)

4. This is only part of what is going on...

Most of my work since 2009 has been happening on Wikipedia,
where I write as
"Carrite." There are several others there writing on topics relating to
radical history and linking up primary documents there as well. Don't
hesitate to make use of that resource. Every day it gets a little better.

Thanks for your
interest,

Tim Davenport
Corvallis, OR

If you actually want to find stuff on this site, use this link. Seriously...